Final answer:
Manorialism in the Middle Ages was a self-sufficient economic system within the feudal society, where serfs worked the land for their lord, producing most necessities locally without relying on external trade or markets.
Step-by-step explanation:
Manorialism was an economic system that can best be described as Self-Sufficient. It was part of the broader feudal system that characterized much of Europe during the Middle Ages. Under manorialism, lords of a manor would provide protection to serfs who, in return, worked the land to produce food and goods necessary for the entire community's subsistence. This system meant that most people lived and worked on the manor, creating little need for trade or markets because the manor produced most of what was needed for daily life.
Within this feudal system, the aristocracy controlled the land and the serfs were bound to it, unable to leave or to make significant life decisions without the permission of the lord. The economy was not based on trade or the buying and selling in markets, but rather on fulfilling obligations to the lord of the manor, who in turn had obligations to the king or higher nobility. Manorialism was a closed economy, where little went beyond the local village, and where cities played a minimal role.
The manorial system was a clear shift away from a market economy towards a system that was almost entirely internal, with peasants or serfs working the land and producing what was necessary to sustain the estate. Hence, option 1, Self-Sufficient, accurately describes the nature of the manorial economic system.